1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of flatbed scanners and more particularly, to a space-saving flatbed scanner.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Scanner devices, such as flatbed scanners, are well known in the art and produce machine-readable image data signals that are representative of a scanned object, such as a photograph or a page of printed text. In a typical scanner application, the image data signals produced by a scanner may be used by a personal computer to reproduce an image of the scanned object on a suitable display device, such as a monitor or a printer.
A typical flatbed scanner may include illumination and optical systems to accomplish the task of scanning an object. The illumination system illuminates a portion of the object (commonly referred to as a “scan region”). Whereas, the optical system collects light reflected by the illuminated scan region and focuses a small area of the illuminated scan region (commonly referred to as a “scan line”) on the surface of a photosensitive detector positioned within the scanner. Image data representative of the entire object may then be obtained by sweeping the scan line across the entire source object, usually by moving the illumination and optical systems with respect to the object being scanned.
By way of example, the illumination system may include a light source (e.g., a fluorescent or incandescent lamp or an array of light emitting diodes (LEDs)). The optical system may include a lens and/or mirror assemblies to focus the image of the illuminated scan line onto the surface of the photosensitive detector. Alternatively, a “contact image sensor” (CIS) may be used to collect and focus light from the illuminated scan region onto the surface of a detector.
The photosensitive detector used to detect the image light focused thereon by the optical system may be a charge-coupled device (CCD), although other devices may be used. A typical CCD may comprise an array of individual cells or “pixels,” each of which collects or builds-up an electrical charge in response to exposure of certain wavelengths of light energy. Since the quantity of the accumulated electrical charge in any given cell or pixel is related to the intensity and duration of the light exposure, a CCD may be used to detect light and dark spots on an image focused thereon.
Flatbed scanners and various components thereof are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,041 for OPTICAL SCANNER to David Wayne Boyd; U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,144 for BEAM SPLITTER AND PHOTOSENSOR to Kent J. Vincent; U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,268 for COLOR COMBINER AND SEPARATOR AND IMPLEMENTATIONS to Kent J. Vincent and Hans D. Neuman; U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,028 for OPTICAL SCANNER APERTURE AND LIGHT SOURCE ASSEMBLY to Boyd, et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,620 for APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING COMPONENTS OF COLOR OPTICAL SCANNERS to Elder, et al., which are assigned to the common assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference for all that is disclosed therein.
While flatbed scanners are well known and are being used, they tend to have a rather large “footprint.” As a result, flatbed scanners occupy a substantial amount of space wherever they are placed (e.g., a desktop or a tabletop). An exemplary prior art desktop arrangement is illustrated in FIG. 1. As illustrated, a significant portion of the surface area of a desktop 10 may be consumed by a number of items associated in a common computing configuration. For example, the desktop 10 may be outfitted with a personal computer 12, a monitor 14, a printer 15, left and right channel stereo speakers 13a, 13b, a keyboard 16, and a mouse 18. A flatbed scanner 17, mouse pad 19, telephone 20, and an external modem device 30 may further clutter the desktop 10. It is easy to see that the flatbed scanner 17 consumes a significant portion of the area on the desktop 10. With the exception of today's popular large cathode ray tube (CRT) display monitors and some large printers (e.g., the printer 15), the flatbed scanner 17 consumes the greatest area on the surface of the desktop 10.
Computer and computer peripheral device manufacturers have used several approaches to address the problem of a crowded desktop 10. These approaches have included various stacking schemes, such as stacking the monitor 14 or printer 15 on top of the computer 12, combining the keyboard 16 with the mouse 18 to form an integral input unit, or making the computer 12 and other peripherals narrower and taller, such as in the form of a computer tower 12, or a flat monitor 14. One such stacking arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,822,080 to Chavez, assigned to the common assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference, which discloses combining the lid of a flatbed scanner with a keyboard and a mouse. Scanner manufacturers have responded to the problem of a crowded desktop 10 by decreasing the size of the scanner 17. For example, sheet feeding scanners and handheld scanners have been introduced. However, these scanning devices do not offer the flexibility of a flatbed scanner. Both sheet feed scanners and hand-held scanners are not capable of scanning bound documents, books, or three-dimensional objects. In addition, sheet feed and hand-held scanners do not provide preview scanning. Flatbed scanners are capable of performing these and other tasks. This leaves scanner users with the choice of trading desktop space for scanner functionality and flexibility. Thus, it would be desirable to have a flatbed scanner with the flexibility and functionality of current flatbed scanners while simultaneously reducing desktop space requirements.